gimme your thoughts, she would be carrying in a purse

is the leathality enough? or at least better than .38 special with good ammo?

trigger pull enough to preclude any ND while riding in the purse? (would rather her not use the safety if possible, much like a revolver has no safety, but a long DA pull)

size?

thanks

I just picked up my second Bulgy Mak yesterday

Bear ammo makes a nice 115 HP load.

www.dkgtrading.com

The DA pull on a Mak usually improves after a couple hundred rounds.
The SA pull is usually pretty good.

I only use the safety to drop the hammer.
You would have to drop a Mak precisely on the muzzle onto a really hard surface , or beat
on the hammer heavily  to get an AD.

Pearce rubber grips are nice , but a little bulky.

www.pearcegrip.com/

Quoted: gimme your thoughts, she would be carrying in a purse is the leathality enough? or at least better than .38 special with good ammo? trigger pull enough to preclude any ND while riding in the purse? (would rather her not use the safety if possible, much like a revolver has no safety, but a long DA pull) size? thanks

No way is it better than a .38 with +P ammo

Revolvers are perfect backups. go .357. then you can use .38's too.

But yeah...I have both. makarov, and .357

either-or

My finace found the Mak to be a bit snappy. She much prefers .38spl. My Mak is Bulgarian has broken in a bit, and the DA trigger smoothed out a bit. But still too heavy for her small hands.

                                                                                                  Sigmonster

I love my Makarov, and think it is a great carry pistol.  Yes, it is a bit "snappy"  (but not as bad with the heavier recoil spring) but it is still great for a self-defense weapon.  At one point I was shooting matches with it, and it is DEFINITELY too snappy to put 100-150 rounds through it at a time!

Yeah my girlfriend has shot my Sig 9mm and my Makarov and she didn't like either...

Both were more "snappy" than she wanted...

never mind the fact that she put the first and only shot through the X when shooting my sig... she just didn't like the recoil as it left her feeling as though she wasn't in control of the gun..

Honestly just keep going through interesting carry guns until you find one she likes. That way you can play with the toys too and if you don't like it you can sell it to go to the next.

My SO is hell bent on a Walther P22!

As much as I hate the Idea of trusting a .22lr in a defense situation... especially the Wather P22 which are mostly hit or miss in the reliability department. If she can't hit her target or is scared of the recoil and doesn't shoot then the caliber is really a non issue...

I'm sure at some point I'll get her to step up to something bigger but I've decided she should make the decisions on her gun buying choices to start out with to get her own taste of what she wants to shoot..

I will admit... my hand hurts a lot more after 100-200 rounds through my makarov than it does after 2-300 +p rounds through my sig...

I'm starting to think the best option for her to move up in caliber is a CZ Recoil operated mid size in either .380 or 9X18 (preferably 9X18 so I don't have to stock another cartridge)

Even though the 9X18 is < the 9mm Para I think the blowback operation is enough to more than make up for it...

They are slim and very concealable.  They pack a somewhat potent cartridge and a decent number of them too.  9mm Mak isn't my top choice for protection but I wouldn't hesitate to defend my life with one if I had to.

You didn't state which type of Mak you'd like, a commercial or a surplus?

I'm not sure how strong her hands are but the slides do take some effort to "rack".  If I were you i'd let her fondle one before buying.

Depending on the model the sites have a little to be desired.  But some of the commercial variants have decent sites, and if you pick up a cheap Bulgy Mak you can have it sent out for aftermarket sites.

Try this link for all the goodies you can purchase to help bring the Mak up to speed www.makarov.com